There are a few different projects out there that aim to let researchers use the KUKA LBR iiwa with the Robot Operating System (ROS). Most of these have their disadvantages, but a couple are actually pretty nice. One of the better ones is provided here. We looked at a few different optins when designing our CoSTAR system.

In particular, this package lets us use the LBR with Gazebo and with MoveIt, allowing us to do real motion planning:

We have been separately working on our own version of this code that aims to provide some extra functionality. Since one of our project goals was to provide a powerful user interface, we wanted to be able to switch between different control modes and also offer access to the Fast Robot Interface.

Now we can put the robot into a responsive “teach mode” so that end users can move it around: